MINUTES OF HARLECH COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT THE OLD LIBRARY, HARLECH AT 7.30 P.M. ON 06.11.23
ANNWEN HUGHES
APOLOGIES
Cllrs. Thomas Mort, Ceri Griffiths, Gordon Howie.
PRESENT
Cllrs. Edwina Evans (Chairman), Christopher Braithwaite (Vice Chairman), Ceri Griffiths, Huw Jones, Emma Howie, Tegid John, Rhian Corps, Martin Hughes, Wendy Williams, and Cllrs. Annwen Hughes and Gwynfor Owen (Gwynedd Council).
The Chairman welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Jim Maxwell to the meeting to discuss why they had applied to the Council for financial support towards purchasing 2 plaques one in memory of Daniel Angell Jones, 5 Bronwen Terrace who was headmaster of the primary school 100 years ago and another in memory of Dr. John Thomas who lived in Tryfar Terrace as he was an inventor of the colouring process which revolutionised the cloth colouring industry. Dr. John Thomas is buried in the cemetery of Moriah Chapel in the town. It was reported that the family of Bryan Hilton Jones who lived in Penygarth had paid for a blue plaque to be placed in his memory. The Chairman thanked Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell for attending the meeting. This matter was discussed further and Members agreed to contribute £660.00 towards the cost of 2 blue plaques.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on October 2nd 2023 were found to be correct.
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
There were no matters arising from the minutes
DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Cllr. Edwina Evans declared an interested in the grant application which Mr. Jim Maxwell presented to the Council and she signed a Personal Interest Declaration Document.
Cllr. Martin Hughes declared an interested in the grant application which Mr. Jim Maxwell presented to the Council and he signed a Personal Interest Declaration Document.
GWYNEDD COUNCIL MATTERS
The following report was received from Cllr. Annwen Hughes – Cllr. Annwen Hughes reported that since that last meeting that she had received a reply from Natural Resources Wales stating that they are not responsible for the fence that runs from the crossing towards Morfa Stores, that she has once more contacted the Highways Department about the dip in the road near Morfa Garage and she had received a reply from them stating that they have been monitoring the situation over the summer with the Inspector stating that the site is getting worse, but unfortunately Welsh Water still refuses to take responsibility and because of this they are going to arrange to carry out some research during this month and if they find out Welsh Water equipment is the problem they will hand over the site to them and recover at any cost. Also she has been told that the public toilets at Min y Don car park will have renovations carried out in the next few months and before they re-open next season. She also had attended a meeting where Gwynedd Council will have to find savings/cuts of £6.5 million in 2024/25 if inflation stays at 6.7%. She had received several calls today about signs that have been placed around the area stating that the A496 is closed at St David’s church. Although this refers to the road in Barmouth being closed for 8 weeks, she had contacted the Highways Department because the signs had been placed badly on many crossroads and she had been told an Inspector will go around the area this afternoon and check the locations of these signs and try to move them to a safer location for road users if necessary. From today the bus service has changed and the T38 and 39 will be renumbered the G23 and this bus will run hourly from Monday to Saturday and the number of journeys increasing from 7 to 11.
769………………………………………………..Chairman
Cllr. Gwynfor Owen reported that he had presented the prizes at the autumn gardening show and also at the recent aquathon competition, he had met Mabon Ap Gwynfor and Liz Saville Roberts and taken them around the town. He has had some complaints about speeding and because of this has asked Arrive Alive to come to the area.
MATTERS ARISING
Budget Plan
It was reported that the Council had spent £55,005.69 (which included bank charges) since the start of the new financial year and this was £11,448.12 less expenditure than what was earmarked in the budget for the year.
King George V Playing Field
Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite informed the Members that Macventure company had been back to refurbish the zip wire and install a ramp at one end, also he informed the Members that he had received the final invoice for the work at the above site and it was agreed that he would inspect the zip wire after they completed the work on it before paying this invoice.It was agreed to accept Mr. Meirion Evans quote of £750 to make the path from the road to the play park.
Bus Shelters
Cllr. Emma Howie reported that she had received a price from one company of £8,629.20 for two bus shelters, and Cllr. Tegid John reported that he would be able to get a price to have the two existing bus shelters renovated.
Election of Councillor
The Clerk reported that she had been informed by the Electoral Department, Gwynedd Council that they had not received any nominations for the vacant seat on the Council so no election will be held. Also stating that they will be in further contact with the Clerk to let the Council know what the next steps are.
HAL
The Vice Chairman reported that he together with Cllr. Martin Hughes had attended the meeting at the village hall, Llanbedr on the 11th of last month to discuss the way forward between the area’s Community Councils and HAL. It was reported that all Councils had decided to pay the precept payment every month until the end of March 2024 unless something unexpected happened, that everyone agreed that a business plan needed to be seen and HAL were given until mid-December to send this out, that they still send regular accounts to the Community Councils and that the Councils wanted to see any survey reports that they have received. The Clerk stated that she had received a copy of the e-mail that the Clerk of Llanbedr Community Council had sent to HAL and had forwarded this to every Member.
Ardal Ni
Cllr. Martin Hughes reported on the meeting held on the 24th of last month and that Cllrs. Edwina Evans, Rhian Corps, Mr. Reg Chapman on behalf of the Old Library committee and Mr. Jim Maxwell on behalf of the Memorial Hall committee and Mr. Geraint Williams in attendance. He informed the Members that Anna Lewis, Regeneration Officer for Ardudwy had agreed to attend the next meeting but a date for this meeting had not yet been confirmed.
Penygraig Land
Received an email from Mr. Dylan Edwards, of Guthrie Jones & Jones Solicitors seeking the Council’s direction regarding the matter above. The Clerk further reported that she had forwarded all correspondence regarding this to each Member and also she had received another e-mail from Mr. Dylan Edwards stating that the seller was satisfied the free transfer of the land to the Council provided that the Council pays £2,000 to ALW for costs (‘this had been agreed at a Council meeting on the 4th of April 2022), also stating that the current lease terminated on the 20th of January 2023, stating that although the land is offered to the Council free of charge, care must be taken that there are no liabilities associated with the land, ‘the deeds of the land WA912685 were annexed for information but Mr.
770………………………………………………..Chairman
Edwards had stated that there were a large number of other documents attached to this title but did not want to order them without getting assurances from the Council that we were buying the property. Also suggesting that the
Council should carry out a risk assessment of the property and perhaps have a survey carried out and wanted to know out of interest why the Council was keen to purchase this land and what use was made of it when the Council leased it. It was agreed to continue with this and pay the sum of £2,000 and also ask Mr. Edwards if he could arrange for the Council to have a risk assessment and survey carried out.
Christmas Lights
There was a discussion about the above after being informed that the public believes the Council is not contributing towards this event. It was agreed to send a letter to Mr. Geraint Williams asking if it would be possible for the Council to obtain the invoices regarding this event so that they can approve payments and that the Council can reimburse Mr. Williams’ costs.
Formation of a Council facebook page
It was made known that such a page had been created and that Cllrs. Rhian Corps and Emma Howie agreed to be in charge of this page and it was agreed to use it for information only. It was agreed to remove the e-mail addresses of the Members from the Council’s web page.
Scam
The Clerk reported that she had responded to the External Auditor’s report on this matter, but as this report was confidential it was not possible to minute the discussion which took place about the report. The Clerk reported that she had contacted the Financial Ombudsman and she had received a reply from them as it was confidential its contents could not be minuted.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS
Vary Condition No.2 (Approved plans) attached to Planning Consent NP5/61/657A dated 01/08/2023 for changes to parking bay and installation of solar panels on south facing roof of approved two storey extension – Aelfor, Ffordd Isaf, Harlech (NP5/61/657B)
Support this application.
Erection of a detached triple bay garage with first floor workshop – Bryn Gwylan, Ffordd Uchaf, Harlech (NP5/61/479C)
Support this application.
Certificate of Lawful Use (Existing Use) for use of former barn as ancillary accommodation to the farmhouse –
Foel, Harlech (NP5/61/LU608C)
Support this application.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer reported that there was £15,159.73 in the current account and £101,594.67 in the reserve account.
Invoices needing payment since last meeting
Mr. G. J. Williams – £214.00 – cut grass King George playing field and football field x 2
Mr. Meirion Griffiths – £2,133.00 – cut grass of public footpaths and around the allotments
Mr. Meirion Griffiths – £2,052.00 – cut grass in the public cemetery and car park
Mr. Meirion Evans – £180.00 – half the cost of rebuilding a wall between the allotments and Mr. Evans land
Mr. Tom Edwards – £240.00 – clear and remove trees on Nature Trail (emergency work e-mail 9.10.23)
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Royal British Legion – £20.00 – poppy wreath
Macventure Playgrounds – £9,120.00 – remaining payment play equipment King George field **
** It was agreed that the above invoice would be paid once Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite had carried out an inspection of the work the company has done on the zip wire.
Applications for financial contributions
Harlech & Ardudwy Leisure – £1,750.00 – precept proposal (monthly payment).
The above payments were processesed by the Vice Chairman, Cllr. Christopher Braithwaite and Cllr. Tegid John approved the payments and permission was granted to the Clerk/Treasurer to make payment on line or by cheque at the end of the meeting.
It was agreed to transfer £10,000 from the deposit account to the current account.
The Treasurer reported that the External Audit for the financial year 2020/21 and 2021/22 had been completed and some major issues arose and these matters were discussed.
The Clerk suggested that it would be better to have a financial agenda only for the January meeting so that financial matters could be discussed more thoroughly and everyone agreed to this.
Monies received since last meeting
None received since the last meeting.
CORRESPONDANCE
Gwynedd Council – Environmental Department
Received an email from the above on the 9th of last month informing the Clerk that he had received an enquiry through Galw Gwynedd stating that a customer had contactedthem voicing concern about dangerous trees at the rear of their home of Tyddyn Bach, 2 Bron y Graig, Harlech and asking if the Community Council would be able to look into this as soon as possible. The Clerk reported that she had contacted Cllr. Huw Jones because these works are of an urgent nature to ask him to contact Mr. Tom Edwards asking him to go to visit the site as soon as possible. Cllr. Huw Jones reported further that the work of clearing and disposing of dangerous trees that had fallen across the Nature Trail footpath was carried out on the 20th of last month.
Gwynedd Council – Economy Department
Received an e-mail from the above informing the Council that there is a grant available towards creating or improving allotments. It was agreed to apply for this grant.
Gwynedd Council – Highways Department
Received a letter from the above informing the Council that the following works are to be carried out during the next month that the Our Area Tidying Team will be around the town from the 30th of October to the 3rd of November, that an access gate is going to be installed on public footpath no. 29, that vegetation cutting, drainage works, walling works and installation of 3 bridle gates are going to be installed on public footpath no. 16/23 and 2 access gates are going to be installed on public footpath no. 17
Gwynedd Council – Economy Department
Received an email from the above informing the Council that Gwynedd Council had received a grant as part of the Gwynedd SPF scheme for the implementation of town centre schemes to lay a foundation for investment, pride and buzz that would contribute towards the regeneration of the town centre. Also they are asking if the Community Council would be interested in being part of this scheme. It was agreed that this work should be carried out in the town.
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Gwynedd Council – Environmental Department
Received an e-mail from the above informing the Council that the road towards Ty Clyd will be closed on the 7th of this month so works to renew a leaking communication pipe on behalf of Welsh Water can be carried out. The Clerk also reported that she had received another e-mail informing the Council that the road from Pen y Bryn towards Cae Du would be closed on the 21st of this month so works to renew a defective pole and cabling activities on behalf of BT Openreach could be carried out.
Mr. Joe Patton
Received an e-mail from the above asking if the Council would support him in making a grant application for the wildflower garden from Keep Wales Tidy. It was agreed to do this. The Clerk also reported that she had received the £249.25 cheque from Mr. Patton which he had received from the local PCSO to support the community garden of wildflowers. The money will be used to order more lavender plants, daffodils and gardening goods. It was agreed once that this cheque had gone through the Council’s account to repay Mr. Patton £209.69 which is what he has spent so that bulbs, soil with equipment can be ordered for the community garden.
Always Aim High Events
Received an email from Claire Stones on behalf of the above company asking if it would be possible to use the King George V playground as in previous years for parking during the Triathlon which takes place on the 13th and the 14th of April 2024. It was agreed to give permission.
Mr. Giles Bentham
Received an email from the above stating that the Council is in breach of two laws namely the Local Government Electoral (Wales) Act 2021 and the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013. He states that this exists where the 2021 Act is concerned because the Council does not publish within 7 days of their meetings the names of the Members present, apologies, expressions of interest with any decision taken at the meeting. Regarding the 2013 Act the Council is breaking the law because they do not publish any information about their Members including if they belong to any political party and the Council does not publish their accounts on their website. The Clerk reported further that she had received another email from Mr. Bentham asking why he had not received a reply to his first email and also that he had been informed by one of the Councillors that the matter of the Council complying with the 2021 Act was suggested at the last Council meeting but the Clerk refused to comply with this. The Clerk declared that this was not true because it was the Members who had decided not to implement this Act because they stated that no other Town and Community Council did. There was a discussion about the above and the Members were not at all happy that a Councillor had been informing Mr. Bentham what is discussed at Council meetings before the minutes are published.
ANY OTHER MATTER
It was agreed to discuss the email received from Mrs Jane Jones at the next Council meeting and the Chairman would inform her of this.
Cllr. Martin Hughes informed the Members that the letters from the postbox in the town were collected in the afternoon.
It was agreed that Cllr. Rhian Corps would attend the new Councillor induction training on the 6th of next month.
SIGNED……………………………………….Chairman
DATE……………………………………………… 773.